eCoexist started work in Awhalwadi in 2017 with the women of the village. In 2024, we decided that we needed to do something for the children of the village too and approached the Zilla Parishad School principle to ask in what ways we could offer our help. The most urgent need was for help with Spoken English and for a library with storybooks. This led to the formation of VASUDHA a natura space for the children, where spoken English could be taught through storytelling. To this we bring in a love for Nature and a sensitivity to all living beings.
VASUDHA, meaning “Earth” in Sanskrit, is a Nature Space initiative dedicated to the children of Ahwalwadi. This program offers a unique opportunity for kids to spend two hours a week immersed in activities that foster a deep connection with nature. Through learning, playing, and singing, the children will explore the wonders of the natural world around them.
At VASUDHA, we believe that nurturing a love for nature from a young age is essential for fostering environmental stewardship. Our mission is to create a joyful and engaging space where children can develop an appreciation for the beauty and intricacies of the environment, while also enhancing their English language skills.
Manisha Sheth
Mayuri Kumbhar
Suvarna Kadre
Lego Serious Play: Manali Mitra
Sangam Taares: Suzanne Turnbull
/ Susie Williams
As we entered Year 3 of the VASUDHA program at Awhalwadi we are able to gauge the increasing awareness among our children both to their inner worlds as well as sensitivity to the external Natural Environment . On an average 25 children are still in attendance while there is some turnover of participants. For Year 3, we will be taking them deeper into topics of wildlife conservation, green livelihoods and self awareness.
A book and toy library has been planned and donations of furniture and books are coming in. Visits to sacred grovers, overnight outdoor camps and study tours to understand green industry are also being planned for this year.
A review of the year that passed also including an assessment by the children of the content of the VASUDHA program.
The categories of activities we did with them included Trips, Lectures, Art and Crafts, Games, Book reading, Celebrations , Music and Dance.
The syllabus we create for the children has a broad outline , however we allow the children to have a say in what they would like to learn. As requests arise from them we adjust the sessions to serve these requests and find that their levels of engagement increase when they see that their opinions matter.
To gauge the impact of the VASUDHA sessions we made visit to the childrens homes to sit down with their parents and discuss our observations and take their feedback.These visits allow us to get a deeper understanding of the childrens home environment and what may be affecting their mental states. Most parents appreciated the program and have chosen to continue with it.
Nisarganaad was a wildlife photography exhibition celebrating the rich biodiversity of Pune district. This collection of photos illustrated the existent biodiversity in the city even in the face of rampant and unplanned urban developments. Learning that these insects birds and mammals live IN PUNE CITY alongside human beings made the children appreciate that human habitat is shared with other species. Photographer and wildlife expert Swapnil Thatte and his team hostedthe children beautifully explaining the details of each species to them with great patience. The kids were asked to choose one specie and study it further on their own through research and art.
To develop the patience and interest in close observation we made the children read the book – THERES NOTHING THERE by Karunya Baskar et al.
IN this delightful book a little girl is completely fascinated by the natural world around her. As she hops ans skips alongside her mother she is constantly distracted by so many species of insects birds and trees that she sees !
The Sangam Girl Guides World Center sent us two foreign volunteers,Suzanne Turnbull and Susie Williams, as part of their TARE programme. They were with us for eight weeks and led the children in various activities such as computer skills, Spoken English, physical play activities and building basic science tools such as solar energy concentrators, wind turbines, telephones etc.
In Year 2 we had started a series called Pancha Mahabhuta with the children and studied WATER and EARTH as two elements in Nature. In Year 3 we continue this with AIR and ENERGY. The sessions on Air, start with helping children visualise what Air is with the help of balloons to understand volume and pressure.
Manali Mitra and her team visited Vasudha to lead the children in LEGO Serious Play – an activity that allows the children to express their inner emotions and concerns while playing with Lego modules. They are asked to build with the modules in response to targeted questions that reveal their inner world.
As we prepared for a visit to the sacred grove we conducted a session on Tree identification through leaves. Each child was asked to bring a leaf from their home environs and we studied them together looking at patterns, colour, thickness and smell. Leaves that looked similar and were confusing made the children look closer. Detailed observation skills are critical to studying and understanding Nature.
The following weekend , we arranged a trip to the Vinjai Devi Sacred Grove in collaboration with Echo Whisper and faciltated by Dr Sachin Punekar, a reknowned ecologist and tree expert.
The concept of a Sacred Grove was explained to the children, how it functions as an island of species conservation within a landscape and how the attribution of sanctity to the grove ensures that a level of respect is maintained for it by the local communities.
As we trekked towards the grove the children were able to see it stand out in the otherwise relatively barren landscape. We passed old growth ancient trees and offerred our respects to them and when we reached the grove we all did a clean up and sat down to meditate together.
As some of our children enter their teens , the topic of money and finance becomes central in their families who may be struggling to meet their daily expenses. A sound understanding of money, the role it plays in our lives and how to develop a healthy relationships with money are part of the sessions we have begun on Money. These sessions are being conducted by the accountants on our team. They speak of exchange of value, barter and transactional dynamics. They also gradually introduce the children to the practicalities of handling money.
At the end of Year 2, the children visited the Vinoba Ashram at Gagode village to help with the harvest of turmeric at their farm. This turmeric was dried and powdered and the Vinoba community needed help to market the turmeric in the cities. We took this opportunity to teach the children about how food products are packaged and marketed. The children did role plays of how they would convince their clients about the quality and value of the turmeric and how they would answer their doubts. After this each child was ask to sell 100 g of turmeric with the condition that they could not sell it to their own families. The exercise was a thrill to the kids who competed to see who could sell more! Rs 2000 was earned and send to the Vinoba ashram as a result of the kids efforts.
Over five sessions, students explored the water cycle through systems thinking, art, group work, and hands-on activities. They mapped how water moves through their surroundings and began asking deeper questions—like where road water goes. The sessions were facilitated by Dr. Chhavi Mathur, Founder of Curious About Water.
The National Institute of Naturopathy welcome us to bring the children to a summer camp being held by them in May. We brought ten older children to the five day residential camp where they experienced several natural therapy modalities. These included : Mud Therapy, Hydrotherapy, Steam Bath, Sound bath, Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation. They were also taught about Dental Hygiene and Healthy foods. This unforgettable experience illustrated the Healing Power of Nature to the children who often only understand healing in terms of medicine and doctors and hospitalisation.
To sensitise children to the need for incusion and disability awareness, we took them to watch the feature film Sitaare Zamein Par by Aaamir Khan on the topic. In a fun and entertaining way the kids understood that each one of us is unique – not less or more than the other. They laughed and cried and the film left a deep impression on them. It is our hope that gradually we can gather children with special needs in the village to also join us at the Vasudha sessions. The kids are aware of specials needs as they either have such children in their own families or in their neighbourhood .
In the spirit of the film we had just seen, we bought them basketballs to start playing with and encouraged the girls to get as involved as the boys.
We are hoping to install a basketball hoop close to our class so that the children staying nearby can play whenever possible .
As physical fitness is an integral part of the childs development we organised a visit to the Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute for the children of VASUDHA. Here they were introduced to the basics of yoga , to the legacy of Sw Kuvalyananda and to the importance of meditation.
Festivals provide opportunities for the children to practise their creativity by making things used in the ritual. For Rakshabandhan , we spent time with them making rakhis – in any such handicraft actiivity discussions ensue about materials and their lifespans. The pros and cons of using wooden beards rather than plastics, the materials threads are made of etc. By making these products with their own hands the children come to appreciate the labour involved and hence are able to valeu them more.
The POOP Book is a delightful story book by the Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group that was read with the children to appreciate the role faeces plays in the ecosystem and how different animals use it to mark territory, to deflect insects and to mark scents.
At the Naturopathy camp, the author of the Poop book, Sujatha Padmanabhan offerred a session on Poop with games songs and clay models of human poop !!
This session made the children appreciate the role that faeces plays in the natural world and also how it indicates our own health status.
As MUD Therapy was one of the aspects of healing that the children were exposed to at the Natyuropathy camp we also conducted a session on PUNARAVARTAN. In this session were spoke of how soil is formed and who conservation of soil is critical to the health of our ecosystems.
The session included clay modelling , face painting , Dorodango balls and building homes from clay.
We need help to continue our work. Volunteers, sponsors, books (from Kalpavriksh), nature toys, and musicians are all welcome. Our VASUDHA club is growing, and we currently have 30 kids participating in two villages of Awhalwadi and Wagholi. Together, we can inspire the next generation to love, respect, and protect our planet.
For more information, contact us at 9049146644.
